


A Long Wait For Tea

by bookish_cupcake



Series: Hel of The Forgotten [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Religion & Lore, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Norse mythology freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 12:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6804004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookish_cupcake/pseuds/bookish_cupcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a little girl, Hel meets Heimdall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Long Wait For Tea

Still a young girl, Hel often wandered the streets of Asgard when her father turned his attention to her rambunctious siblings. The day came when she ventured outside the city and snuck pass anyone who would send her back to the palace. Further and further, her tiny feet carried her until she happened upon a rainbow bridge.

She tentatively placed a toe out on it, testing its stability. Seeing how it didn’t collapse, she slowly placed her whole foot on it. Soon she was walking on the bridge, ready to see where the rainbow led. Minutes passed and she began counted the stars in the space below her.

She continued walking carefully in the middle when she saw a building looming in the distance, at the end of the bridge. She came across it and stared up at towering man above her. He was very fair skinned with golden hair pooling down to his shoulders. He never once blinked; eyes opened and taking in the cosmos’s majesty.

“Hello, sir,” Hel greeted quietly.

Seeing an adult, Hel thought about heading back to the palace. When he said nothing, she took it to mean that it was ok for her to stay. She sat with her legs dangling off the edge of the bridge. She knew the man’s name. Everyone did. He was Heimdall, the god who foresaw everything, but his knowledge granted only to All-father Odin.

She knew he could not be staring at her, yet she felt his gaze boring into the back of her skull.  She stared at the stars and pondered why. She had to yet to do anything wrong except sneaking out, but every child snuck away at one point.

He saw more than the present.

“It must hurt,” she said, “to see everything at once.”

He did not speak, so Hel talked some more. Rarely was she in the company of a listener. Or perhaps he was ignoring her, but at least he did not interrupt.

“I suppose that means you see the good and the bad, right? Like, this person may be really good and commit good deeds, but they will one day do something horribly wrong. Or like, a bad person will have a shiny moment of redemption. And you can’t tell no one ‘cept One Eye.”

It must eat him up inside, Hel thought. Her toes wiggled, and she stretched her legs over the vast, empty space.

“I sometimes wonder what I’m going to do. People expect me to do bad stuff, but I don’t want to. I want to read. I want to play. But people look at me, seeing something that I don’t see.”

There were so many stars beneath her feet. Lights blinked in the darkness. Other realms existed below her, so new and different from what Hel knew. She only knew Asgard and its inhabitants. She often pondered if the other realms also saw her as an ill omen.

“Father says there is always change in the wind, that I am not bound by what the norns speak of. I fear that he speaks idle words to please me.”

There was a _hmpf_ behind Hel, startling her.

“Focus on being a child,” spoke a deep voice.

Hel did not turn around in fear that Heimdall would return to being mute.

“Play with your dolls, have a tea party, make some friends,” he continued. “There is time before the wind takes you elsewhere.”

Hel couldn’t help but giggle. “Have a tea party with me, then?”

Heimdall remained silent.

Many, many years passed after that without them speaking a word to each other. Ragnarok came and went. Odin died by her brother, and Heimdall died by her father.  In the end, after Ragnarok, those fallen in battle resided in Helheim for there was no longer Odin's Hall.

Hel reserved a spot in her realm for when Heimdall finally walked through her gates. Heimdall came, his eyesight finally free. He took a seat at the table, and Hel poured him a cup of tea.

**Author's Note:**

> Now and Then is a companion piece to this work.


End file.
